The Central Bank of Cuba (BCC) issued a resolution that allows the island’s non-residents to open bank accounts in U.S. dollars, to buy in stores created by the government since last October that sell products in this currency.
Sources from the legal section of the BCC explained to OnCuba by telephone that Resolution 73/2020, published days ago in the Cuban Gaceta Oficial, eliminates the condition of the person’s permanent residence, both for making such purchases and for importing products through entities authorized by the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Investment.
This is the novelty, according to BCC sources, with respect to a previous resolution of October 2019, which allowed the creation of these dollar accounts only for permanent residents on the island and which was repealed by the new regulations.
The drafting of the new resolution, reported this Tuesday by the Agencia Cubana de Noticias news agency, has created confusion as to whether, as of now, it will be possible to pay using the debit cards for these dollar accounts in any establishment of the chains of stores in currencies that operate on the island.
In its first Therefore, the regulation provides for the use of U.S. dollars in retail sales operations in foreign currency, although it does not specify what type of stores, so several independent media from outside Cuba have published that the Cuban government has given “green light to the payment in dollars in all the stores operating with Cuban currency.”
Some economists have also echoed this interpretation of the text, in the sense that the regulations point to a greater dollarization of the Cuban economy.
Source: Cuba: non-residents can create accounts to buy in dollar stores | OnCubaNews English
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